Colin Kaepernick believes Jay-Z is taking shots at him because the rapper is still trying to repair the damage from his NFL partnership.
Kaepernick addressed their growing feud after Jay-Z mentioned him during a freestyle at Yankee Stadium, where the rapper mocked the former quarterback’s settlement with the league.
“Buddy took a check, I ain’t even mad at him,” Jay-Z rapped. “I’m the one [the NFL] can’t control.”
Kaepernick, however, told NBC News that Jay-Z’s decision to bring up their history in 2026 shows how deeply the backlash surrounding his 2019 NFL deal is still weighing on him.
“The backlash that [Jay-Z] received for partnering with the NFL and going counter to people’s interests in 2019 was a major problem for him,” he said.
Jay-Z initially supported Kaepernick after the quarterback began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and racial inequality but that changed when Roc Nation partnered with the NFL while Kaepernick remained unsigned.
Things escalated again when Target scaled back its DEI commitments. Jay-Z struck a deal with the retailer involving an exclusive edition of Reasonable Doubt, while Kaepernick chose not to sell his upcoming memoir there.
Kaepernick said he sees Jay-Z’s remarks as “speaking to a guilty conscience” and an attempt at “reputational recovery.”
“I get it,” he added. “I don’t agree with the actions.”